Assessment of Caspase 3 Activity in Rabbit Myocardial Tissue during Experimental Hemodynamic Overload of the Left Ventricle of the Heart

It is well known that chronic overload of the cardiac left ventricle is accompanied by an increase in the cardiomyocyte apoptosis rate. However, direction and extent of changes in programmed cell death under an acute overload of the left ventricle still requires detailed investigation (as its pathogenesis significantly differs from chronic overload). Caspase-3 activity has been investigated in left ventricle myocardium of rabbits on days 1, 3, and 5 after modeling of left ventricle hemodynamic overload caused by experimental stenosis of the ascending aorta. Control group included intact animals. It was found that caspase-3 activity significantly increased in both ventricles on day 1; it increased more than twofold above control values on day 3 and decreased up to nearly control values on day 5. Based on these data it was concluded that the acute hemodynamic overload of the left ventricle may be a cause of increased apoptosis in the myocardial tissue of both cardiac ventricles during first days of the pathological process.